


Real Or Not Real?

by SpitfiresOnIce



Series: Real Or Not Real? [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s05e05 Save The Cat, F/F, One Shot, a little violence. as a treat, based on a drawing my friend did, the chipped!Catra fight but a little differently, this is my first time uploading what do I tag this as
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25406665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpitfiresOnIce/pseuds/SpitfiresOnIce
Summary: “You’re still trying to protect me.”Her voice was shaky. Fragile. Catra was trembling. Whether it was exhaustion, fear, emotion, Adora couldn’t tell.“Real?”She could feel Catra’s grip on her arms tighten.“Or not real?”
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Real Or Not Real? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843192
Comments: 23
Kudos: 312





	Real Or Not Real?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DRAQIIN (tuomniia)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuomniia/gifts).



> So I gave my friend Luke a drawing prompt and they RAN WITH IT and so in retaliation. I drew this. This was their post please go look at the drawing  
> <https://draqiin.tumblr.com/post/624172544381075456/for-the-hunger-games-asks-youre-still-trying-to>  
> and check out their ao3 too, they're writing a Catradora apocalypse AU and it slaps  
> [DRAQIIN](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DRAQIIN/pseuds/DRAQIIN)

Catra had her pinned to the floor.

Adora, flat on her back, went limp underneath her, stopped struggling, her breathing shallow and quick. She felt tears well up and streak down her face. Her back hurt. She could feel the wet sensation where the blood was spreading, and Adora laying down on it only made it worse. From her barely opened eyes, she could see Catra hovering over her. Catra? Horde Prime? No, she couldn’t think of the person pinning her that way - even now, even knowing he made her do all this, the hands gripping her were Catra, the weight pressing on her was Catra. It was all too familiar. She hated that he was in there, that someone could control her that way. She hated that Catra wasn’t Catra.

Or was she?

Catra’s expression had changed. Prime’s taunting smirk was gone. Instead, her face looked… contorted. Confused, almost? It was as if she was pondering something. Adora’s tears were distorting her vision, but for a second, it seemed as if Catra’s eyes were yellow and blue. Then she blinked, tears clearing for a moment and she saw green again. Adora wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it.

But her expression was still different.

“You’re here.” The sentence had started off strange, with Horde Prime’s voice mixed in, but had ended unmistakably Catra’s. Adora blinked her tears away to get a better look at her. Catra’s eyes were green, but they were unfocused. Shifting, trembling, then settling upon her. It was as if she was unsure. As if she couldn’t make up her mind.

“Real? Or not real?”

It took Adora a moment to process that that question may not have been aimed at her as much as Catra herself. She was still staring at Adora, puzzled, as if she was trying to make sense of something. Her fingers were digging into Adora’s wrists, tightening, testing, as if she was expecting Adora to crumble underneath her. She didn’t, and the pressure was hurting her. But she didn’t budge. She laid silently, glancing at Catra, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Real.” Adora had barely she’d spoken it out loud. She said it almost voicelessly. She might have believed it was her own thought process, if it hadn’t been for the twitch in Catra’s ear. Confused eyes flashing yellow and blue, then washing back to green. Definitely not imagined this time. But her face was contorting again, twitching, expressions changing and conflicting. Her grip tightened. Prime must be trying to take control again, Adora realized. She clenched her teeth and tried to suppress a scream as sharp nails dug into her wrist, far deeper than Catra would ever have done back in the Horde. Catra’s breathing was uneven. Her face showed Horde Prime’s calm expression once again, before she violently shook her head, grunting. Her face became confused.

“You came back here for me,” she breathed. “Real? Or not real?

“Real.”

Adora’s mind was racing with adrenaline and a storm of thoughts. Why was this happening? It felt like a part of Catra was trying to break through the… possession? Brainwashing? What was this? It was almost as if she was… trying to ground herself. Was it just that coming out of the fog was making her confused?

Or was it because… she had reason to believe this _wasn’t_ real?

Adora turned her head a little further to look Catra in the eyes. The way her gaze tried to focus on Adora’s face, the way her claws had been sheathed but her fingers were still tightly clamped around her arm. Not to restrain her, it felt like. More like she was trying to hold onto her. She still looked confused. No, she looked _scared_. The realisation made Adora’s heart sink. She had not seen Catra scared in a very, very long time. Catra didn't show fear. Catra took that fear and turned it into rage. She yelled and kicked and fought and spat so she would have nothing to be afraid of. Not this Catra. This Catra looked powerless, in a way. No one had ever made Catra powerless. Prime had found a way to break her down. Prime had made her _afraid_.

“What did he do to you?!”

It came out louder than she’d imagined. Catra recoiled for a moment, her eyes flashing yellow and blue again. Adora took the opportunity to scramble a few steps away, getting herself upright, and just in time to dodge another blow. Catra’s fist flew by her face so close she could feel the air move. Her eyes were green again. The cold smile was back.

“She was afraid in the end. And she suffered. Perhaps, I should make her my new vessel. Though, she would not last me long.”

Her voice was once again mixed with Prime’s. Adora dodged her blows, striking back only to defend herself, not to hurt. Trying to balance herself and not let Catra drive her too close towards the edge. “Catra, please,” she begged. “I’m here. I’m here for you. You don’t have to do this. Come back home with me.”

Catra’s face twisted again. Her eyes squeezed shut, as if in pain. For a second, she looked as if she was going to relax and open her eyes, but then, sudden, she tensed screamed as if she was being electrocuted. And she lashed out.

The sound and Catra’s claws cut through her, simultaneously. The blow landed on Adora’s face. Pain erupted and her eyes became blurry, blood mixing in with tears. Adora staggered back, trying to wipe away the blood, but her face stung so much.

“A-Adora.”

She jerked her head back up to see Catra, her expression pained, tears starting to roll down her face, before she twitched and Prime came, making her rush towards Adora again. Catra’s warning allowed her to evade, and she grabbed Catra’s arms, tackling her, and pinning her to the ground. Horde Prime’s eyes were staring at Adora’s bloodied face, taunting her, mocking her. Catra’s body was struggling. She was getting tired, Adora could tell. She knew what Prime didn’t need to tell her. She could end this right here and now, and escape alive. She could take out Catra, technically her enemy, she could save herself right here.

But Adora was here because she wanted Catra with her, not because she wanted to end this.

Before she knew it, she was being shoved roughly to the ground. “Oh, Adora.” she could hear Prime’s voice mixed with Catra’s again. Then nothing, for a while. Adora had shut her eyes, reflexively. She opened them slowly. Catra was looking at her again. Tears were now running down her face. She was staring the way she had before. But more intensely. More focused. She could hear Catra’s breathing, ragged, a barely audible sob in between. Adora didn’t move. She didn’t try to fight. She just held Catra’s green gaze from the corner of her eye, her vision muddled by tears and blood. Everything hurt. Catra was holding onto her like she was a lifeboat.

“You’re still trying to protect me.”

Her voice was shaky. Fragile. Catra was trembling. Whether it was exhaustion, fear, emotion, Adora couldn’t tell.

“Real?”

She could feel Catra’s grip on her arms tighten.

“Or not real?”

Adora was trembling too.

“Real.”

Adora could see Catra’s eyes returning back to yellow and blue, and her face, gasping as she came back to her senses, heaving breathing, the grip on her arms loosening then tightening. She could feel tears from Catra’s face fall down on her back. Adora felt every single one of her muscles scream, but she forced herself to slowly, slowly move up, turn her upper body around, facing Catra who was now full on weeping. Catra had let go of her wrists, and was now hovering over her with her arms reaching out but not touching, as if confused. As if she was scared to let go for even a moment. Adora sat up until they were face to face, and held her wrists, calmly but firmly.

“I’m taking you home with me.”

Catra opened her mouth slowly as if to say something, but no words came out. Adora voiced the answer to her unspoken question.

“Real.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't normally write and this is my first fanfic so. Please go easy on me. Thank you if you read this! <33333


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